A vet asks for help with student loans

Dear Sgt. Shaft,

I am a retired veteran with 21 years of service and active duty
service during the Beruit, Lebanon campaign in the
80’s. I have a partial hearing disability. I was wondering if
there is any help for me with my defaulted student loans. My State
of Nebraska wages are being garnished at
this time to pay the loan and apparently I cannot qualify for a VA home loan because of
the garnishment. I would appreciate any advice you can give me. I served
from 1980 to 2001, in the USMC and as an Army Infantry
officer.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Barney HLincoln NE

Dear Barney,

I am not aware of specific programs for retired military or veterans
trying to pay off student loan debt. You may want to search for programs
under the Department of Education
that may help with debt but the programs require placement in public
service positions to qualify.

The Veterans Benefits Administration, which administers the program,
has distributed over $30 billion in the form of tuition and other
education-related payments to Veterans, Servicemembers, and their
families; and to the universities, colleges, and trade schools they
attend.

“This is one of the most important programs helping our Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans
reach their educational goals and find a good job,” said Secretary of Veterans
Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We're proud this important benefit is
making such a big difference in the lives of so many Veterans and their
families.”

“Over the next few years, as more than a million service men
and women end their military careers and return to civilian life, education will be at the forefront of that transition,” said Dr. Jill Biden.
“As a community college teacher, I have seen firsthand the
qualities our veterans bring to the classroom – dedication, a
sense of teamwork, and a commitment to their work. Helping our veterans
succeed in the classroom so they can go on to find good jobs to support
their families is one important way we can thank them for their
service.”

The VA announced that Steven Ferraro, who is currently attending
MiddlesexCountyCollege, a public community college in
Edison, N.J., has been identified as the 1
millionth Post-9/11 GI Bill beneficiary. Ferraro served in
the Army from 2003-2013 and deployed to Iraq in
2008 as part of Operation Iraqi
Freedom. He is the father of three and is majoring in
communications.

• Acting Administrator for the U.S. Small Business
Administration, Jeanne Huli, recently addressed U.S. Senate Committee on
Small Business and Entrepreneurship. In her remarks, she noted that each
year, there are over 250,000 service members transitioning out of our
military. These veterans possess the unique skills, experience,
leadership and drive that make them ideally suited to start businesses
and create jobs in their communities.

Our nation’s 28 million small businesses are the engine of our
economy, employing half of the private sector workforce and creating two
out of every three net new private sector jobs in our communities.

As small business owners, veterans continue to serve our country by
creating critical employment opportunities and driving economic
growth.

According to the most recent U.S. Census data, nearly one in ten
small businesses are veteran-owned. These businesses generate about $1.2
trillion in receipts and employ nearly 5.8 million Americans. Studies
have also shown that veterans over index in entrepreneurship. In the
private sector workforce, veterans are at least 45 percent more likely
than those with no active-duty military experience to be
self-employed.

At the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), we are focused on
ensuring that these start and grow successful businesses and create
jobs.

One of the agency’s key functions is to support loans to small
businesses that have challenges obtaining credit in the conventional
market. Our loan programs have a strong track record of leveraging
billions of dollars in credit to help entrepreneurs launch and grow
their companies and veterans have access to the capital, counseling and
federal contracting opportunities they need to hire new employees. Here
in Arkansas, SBA has supported more than
$116 million in loans in Fiscal Year 2013.

In FY 2013, SBA approved more than 3,000 loans to veteran-owned
businesses, supporting more than $1.8 billion nationally. Today, I have
the privilege to announce new measures to get even more small business
loans into the hands of our nation’s veterans.

Of all SBA loans that go to veterans, 73 percent are $350,000 and
below. The SBA Express Loan Program, which supports loans under
$350,000, is SBA’s most popular loan delivery method. Since the
program’s inception, it has also been one of the most popular
delivery methods for getting capital into the hands of veteran
borrowers.

Effective January 1, SBA is setting the upfront fee for borrowers to
zero for all veteran loans authorized under the SBA Express program for
the remainder of the fiscal year, effectively making these loans cheaper
for borrowers and further increasing access to capital for the men and
women who have served our nation’s military.

This year, SBA also challenged our top national and regional lenders
to pledge to increase their lending activity to veterans by five percent
each year for the next five years. With this support from our lending
partners, SBA expects to serve an additional 2,000 veterans and increase
lending by $475 million.

On January 1, 2013, SBA also began rolling out “Operation Boots
to Business: From Service to Startup.” A nationwide
entrepreneurship training program in partnership with the Department of Defense,
Boots to Business is currently offered to transitioning service members
from all branches of the armed forces at more than 150 military
locations across the country. If the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget request
level is funded, we plan to significantly ramp up the program.